Jean de Bourbon,

Lord of Carency The lordship of Carency belonged to a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. From the 15th century onwards they were known as princes of Carency, even if their fiefdom does not seem to have been promoted to a princedom. In the 16th century Carenc ...

(1378–1457), was a French '' prince du sang'' from the House of Bourbon-La Marche, a

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

(itself a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty). He was the youngest son of John I, Count of La Marche and his wife

Catherine of Vendôme Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian sa ...

and the brother of James II, Count of La Marche (also

King of Naples The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first Sicilian Vespers, separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501) House of Anjou ...

by marriage), Louis, Count of Vendôme (founder of the House of Bourbon-Vendôme, from which all post-1589

French Kings France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

descend in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

), Anne of Bourbon ( Queen of Bavaria by marriage), and Charlotte of Bourbon ( Queen of Cyprus by marriage).

Family life

Jean first

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

Catherine of Artois Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian sa ...

, the second daughter of Philip of Artois, the

Count of Eu This is a list of the counts of Eu, Seine-Maritime, Eu, a French county in the Middle Ages (Eu, Seine-Maritime, Eu is in the department of Seine-Maritime, in the extreme north of Normandy), disputed between Kingdom of France, France and Kingdom ...

, and Marie of Berry. Jean and Catherine had no children, and after Catherine's death in 1420, Jean married his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

Jeanne of Vendômois, the daughter of Hamelin of Vendômois and Alix of Bessé, on September 3 of the very same year at

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. Jean de Bourbon had several children with Jeanne de Vendômois: *Pierre de Bourbon, Succeeded his father Jean as Lord of Carency *Jacques de Bourbon, Succeeded his elder brother Pierre as Lord of Carency *Philippe de Bourbon, Lord of Duisant *Eleonore de Bourbon-Carency, died young at

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

*Andriette de Bourbon-Carency Getting Jean and Jeanne's children recognized as legitimate was a huge struggle and was only achieved in 1438 through a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

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Eugene IV Pope Eugene IV (; ; 1383 – 23 February 1447), born Gabriele Condulmer, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 March 1431 to his death, in February 1447. Condulmer was a Venetian, and a nephew of Pope Gregory XII ...

. In addition, for whatever reason(s), Jean and Jeanne's descendants in the Bourbon-Carency line were never invited to take a seat in the ''

Conseil du Roi The (; 'King's Council'), also known as the Royal Council, is a general term for the administrative and governmental apparatus around the King of France during the Ancien Régime designed to prepare his decisions and to advise him. It should no ...

''.

Mentions in popular culture

In 1692, over two centuries after Jean's death, Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy (also known as Madame d'Aulnoy) wrote a

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

book (republished in 1729) about Jean and his life titled ''Histoire de Jean de Bourbon, prince de Carency''. This book was translated into English in 1719. The 1692 French language book is available for free in its entirety on

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whereas both the 1719 English language book and the 1729 French language book are available for free in their entirety on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

References

{{Reflist 1378 births 1457 deaths House of Bourbon House of Bourbon-La Marche House of Capet Capetian dynasty French royalty Lords in France 15th-century peers of France